"Just the same, it's--oil!" he returned quietly. "There's no doubt at all about it. Look at the ground there."
Mechanically Bud's glance shifted to the wide, shallow depression in the desert. The sand was noticeably darker, and here and there under the sun's rays, it held that faintly iridescent glint that was unmistakable. At a distance he would have said there was a spring somewhere beneath the surface. But no water ever had that look, and now that he was prepared for it he even noticed a faint, distinctive odor in the air.
"By golly!" he cried excitedly. "You mean to say the whole pasture's full of it?"
"Not likely, but it looks to me as if there was a-plenty. There were traces back there where we stopped, and there's no telling how many more--"
"But I didn't see nothin'," interrupted Bud in surprise.
"You weren't looking for it, that's why," shrugged Stratton. "I was. Thinking it all over this past week, I got to wondering if oil might not just possibly be what we ought to look for. I was so doubtful I didn't say anything about it. Like you said, nobody's ever struck it anywhere around these parts, but I reckon you never can tell."
"Wough!" Bud suddenly exploded in a tremendous exhalation of breath. "I can't seem to get it through my nut. Why, it means a fortune for Miss Mary! No wonder that skunk tried his best to do her out of it."
Buck stared at him oddly. A fortune for Mary Thorne! Somehow, until this moment he had not realized that this must seem to every one to be the object of his efforts--to rid Mary Thorne of all her cares and troubles and bring her measureless prosperity. Ignorant of Stratton's identity and of all the circumstances of her father's treachery and double-dealing, she must hold that view herself. The thought disturbed Buck, and he wondered uncomfortably what her feelings would be when she learned the truth.
"What's the matter?" inquired Bud suddenly. "What yuh scowlin' that way for?"
"Nothing special," evaded Buck. "I was just thinking." After all, there was no use crossing bridges until one came to them. "We'd better get started," he added briskly. "We've found out all we want here, and there's no sense in taking chances of running up against the gang."